Easter - When Was Jesus Crucified?
Easter When Was Jesus Crucified
When purchasing a house or acreage one always takes the precaution of having it surveyed to insure against the unpleasant surprise of finding that half your new home has been built on your neighbour's property, or the dam is not on your land. To prove the accuracy of the map or plan of your purchase, the surveyor will first locate a government "trig" station or absolute, then fix one corner of your property from this constant as his datum post. And from this known fixed point he will accurately measure and confirm all the other boundaries of the site.
Ancient masons who built the great cathedrals first established the precise location of one point. Here they laid the cornerstone from which the whole structure was measured. In a recent teaching we learned that Christ is the head of the corner or capstone, from which the temple of the living God or Church is measured. Tonight we're going to revisit the last supper and crucifixion and drive in a few datum posts, or establish some constants, measured from the Absolute or "trig" station of God's Word to make sure the story we are believing is the mind of God, and not Roman Catholic traditions from our denominational past. Scripture has provided us with a series of FIXED days and FIXED dates we can plot on the calendar to determine the events which occupied the last week of our Lord's life on earth, and establish the precise day of His crucifixion. Throughout this lesson I ask you to bear in mind that the Hebrews reckoned their day from sunset to sunset instead of from midnight. We will set forth Jesus' activities as they might have happened in the week before Calvary.
I am not teaching this as doctrine and I may have some details out of order. This will help us to organise our thinking and paint an ordered picture in our own mind. After the resurrection of Lazarus was reported, the chief priests and Pharisees became concerned at the many following and believing on Jesus because of His Supernatural vindication. They feared for their exalted station over Israel, and their status with the Roman rulers. Caiaphas interposed with the solution: "It's expedient for the hierarchy, that one man should die for the people, to preserve the (religious status quo) of our nation" (John 11:47-57). To these Hebrews, any utterance of the high priest was regarded as inspired. Caiaphas had announced a conspiracy to have Jesus put to death by Rome; God used his tongue to prophesy. Thereafter Jesus hid himself from the Jews who were ordered to report any sightings of Him.
The Passover was approaching. This year Jesus was to be that Lamb (John 1:29-34), so He began making His way back towards Bethany which lies on the side of the Mount of Olives, eastward from Jerusalem. He had to be there by Nisan 10 as the Law required the lamb should be separated from the flock on that day (Exodus 12:3-6). It was to be kept in the home for the next four days to be examined for and protected from any blemishes. Jesus was separated and taken into the home of his friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus. From here He was presented to the people and their denominational religious leaders for examination, but even Pilate declared, "I find no fault in Him".
Nisan 7, our Thursday sunset to Friday sunset Jesus spent our Thursday night (Nisan 7) near Jericho, at the home of Zacchaeus the businessman (Luke 19:1-10). On Friday morning He preached the "parable of the pounds" and set off towards Jerusalem (Luke 19:11-28). Bypassing Bethany, they came to Bethphage, where He sent His disciples to fetch an ass and a colt (Matthew 21:1-7).
Jesus is followed by a multitude from the village rejoicing at the fulfilment of Zechariah 9:9, "Rejoice greatly O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King comes to you: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass".
Down in Jerusalem, however, nobody was expecting this Kinsman that Zechariah said would come in peace to be a ransom for their souls. Jesus entered the Temple courts where money changers were selling the Temple half shekel as they did at each Passover season. Every adult male must pay the annual ransom that furnished the continual burnt offerings and Temple necessaries. Jesus was that continual burnt offering. In righteous indignation He cast out the money changers who were making unjust profit, and overturned their tables. This was a full day's work and Jesus was exhausted when He arrived at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus in Bethany on Friday night our time (Matthew 21:8-17; John 12:1).
Nisan 8, our Friday sunset to Saturday sunset John 12:1 takes us to Nisan 8. From Friday sunset until Saturday sunset our time. "SIX days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, to the home of Lazarus whom He had raised from the dead". Jesus spent the Sabbath of Nisan 8 in the home of Lazarus and his sisters. Nisan 9, our Saturday sunset to Sunday sunset After sunset and the close of the Sabbath "They made Him a supper; Martha served: but Lazarus sat at the table with Jesus and their guests" (John 12:2). This is the first of three banquets and two anointing (three in the Gospels, the first in Capernaum - Luke 7:36-50) in the four days before the crucifixion. Lazarus' sister, Mary anointed Jesus' feet in token of His burial (John 12:3-11).
The priests have become pretty testy by this time. They know where Jesus is, and people are going to Bethany not only to see Him, but the resurrected Lazarus who is the vindication of Jesus' ministry. They're plotting to kill both Jesus and Lazarus, because many are believing on Jesus through the testimony of Lazarus who is said to have had an important ministry, working in Britain and in France, founding the Church in Britain.
Now Jesus is about to give the nicolaitane priesthood of His day some curry. Great crowds had assembled in Jerusalem from all over the world, to observe the feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread. These required a compulsory annual pilgrimage from all adult male Israelites. Jesus sends two disciples to fetch a colt. This time He will ride from Bethany (not from Bethphage) into Jerusalem, and in judgement, to proclaim the doom of the city and of the nation. John 12:12-19, "On the next day (Sunday, Nisan 9, our time), when they heard the news that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem (unlike his entry on the previous day which was unexpected), many pilgrims who had come to the feast took palm branches, and went to meet Him, crying, 'Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that comes in the Name of the Lord'.
(In His first entry two animals were sent for and used. This time John quotes only so much of the prophecy). Jesus rode upon a young ass and it is written, 'Fear not, daughter of Sion: see, your King comes, sitting on an ass's colt'. (The remaining Words will not be declared 'til the 144,000 recognise His "parousia" after the midst of Daniel's Seventieth Week - Matthew 23:39). His disciples didn't understand at the time: but after He was glorified, they realised that all these prophecies had been fulfilled before their eyes". (This was Christ's triumphal "Palm Sunday" entry into Jerusalem). Those who had seen Him call Lazarus from the dead, had testified. And that's why so many people gathered to meet Him. The Pharisees said among themselves, 'They take no notice of our condemnation - the world has gone after Him'!" Luke 19:41-44, "When Jesus saw Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives He wept over it saying, 'If only you had recognised the revelation for your day that brings eternal rest from all of the distress you suffer through sin! now It's hid from your eyes. Soon your enemies shall cast a trench about you and shut you in on every side, crush you and your children within - leaving not one stone upon another, because you rejected your day and its Message."
In Jerusalem, Jesus entered into the Temple where He surveyed the courts He had cleansed the previous day. Being late, He returned home to Bethany with the twelve (Mark 11:11).
Nisan 10, our Sunday sunset to Monday sunset It's Nisan 10, Monday morning, our time. Walking to Jerusalem and feeling hungry, Jesus went to pick some figs. Although it was not yet summer, the tree was in leaf, and early figs often appear with the leaves. The fig tree symbolises Israel. Finding no fruit, Jesus cursed the tree, saying, "You will bear no fruit until the end of the Gentile dispensation". The absence of individual fruit showed that God deals with Israel as a nation, in one day, at end of summer. Jesus cursed Israel to fulfil Isaiah's prophecy that they should be blind until the Gentile dispensation was fulfilled (Mark 11:12-14). Whereas Israel was to have been a "Light unto the Gentiles", hereafter, "No man will eat fruit of it for ever". Israel had failed to fulfil its commission. Mark 11:15-17, "Once in Jerusalem, He went into the temple for a further cleansing, and began to cast out those who sold and bought in the temple. He overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of those who sold doves; and forbade anyone to carry any profane vessel through the temple. And He taught, 'It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations? you've made it a den of thieves'."
Some Greeks who had came to worship in the Court of the Gentiles approached Philip, (perhaps because his name was Greek, or because they too were from Galilee), and asked, 'Sir, we would see Jesus'. Philip told Andrew and together they told Jesus who answered, "(If the Gentiles are beginning to recognise Me already), it's time for the Son of man to be glorified". And He expounded the necessity of His death and Israel's blindness, trying to persuade them that by believing on Him - they were not believing on Him as a man, but on God Who sent Him and was in Him (John 12:20-50). He taught daily in the temple. The chief priests, scribes and the business community sought to destroy Him, but didn't know how, for the people held to His every Word (Luke 19:47-48). Before going to Bethany that night, He stopped by the Mount of Olives (Mark 11:19) as became his custom (Luke 21:37-38).
Nisan 11, our Monday sunset to Tuesday sunset Going to Jerusalem on Tuesday morning (our time), Nisan 11, "they noticed the fig tree Jesus had cursed was withered from the roots. (That was the miracle as a tree normally withers from its leaves). Remembering what Jesus had said on Monday, Peter exclaimed, 'Lord, see the fig tree you cursed? It's withered away'. Jesus replied, '(That symbolises what will become of Israel. But) have faith in God (for He is able also to restore it to life)'. Jesus proceeded to illustrate the certainty of energised faith in God's Word. 'Truly I tell you, if you have faith, you can command this Mount of Olives: "Rise up and fall into the Mediterranean", and it shall come to pass. All things are possible, only believe. Whatever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive it, and you shall have it. And when you persevere in prayer, first forgive those against whom you bear any ill-will: so that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your shortcomings. But if you do not forgive others, neither will God forgive you your trespasses'" (Mark 11:20-25).
In the Temple, when the religious leaders sought to trap Jesus in His Words, He began teaching in parables and confounding them with questions (Matthew 21:23-Matt 23:39). And while He taught in the Temple (Luke 20:1; Luke 21:1, Luke 21:37), He saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury, and the widow her two mites. And as some admired the beautiful decorations of the Temple, Jesus delivered the prophetic equivalent of the Seven Seals of Revelation (Luke 21:5-36).
Nisan 12, our Tuesday sunset to Wednesday sunset Jesus again visited the Temple. Retiring to the Mount of Olives He repeated in greater detail, the prophecies delivered in the Temple the previous day (Mark 13; Luke 21; here recorded in Matthew 24:1- Matt 25:46). "And when He had finished all His teaching, Jesus said to His disciples, 'As you know, the feast of Passover is in TWO DAYS, (a FIXED date, confirming our calculations correct so-far) and the Son of man will be betrayed and crucified'. At that very moment the chief priests and elders of the people had gathered in the court of the palace of Caiaphas, the high priest, to discuss how they might take Jesus by subtlety and kill Him. But 'Not during the feast lest there be a riot among the people'." (Matthew 26:1-5).
Jesus and His friends returned to Bethany for a meal in the house of Simon "the (healed) leper". Jesus receives His second anointing of precious ointment by an unnamed woman, who pours it on His head whilst He's eating. (The first anointing was on His feet "SIX DAYS before the Passover" in the house of Lazarus). Perhaps taking up Judas' complaint at the first anointing the disciples here express their indignation at the waste (Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:1-9).
Nisan 13, our Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset "Then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, and he conspired with the chief priests and religious leaders, offering a solution to their problem. It is late Thursday afternoon and the feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was drawing near. They sought how they might take Jesus secretly to avoid a public trial, then kill Him, for they feared the people.
They were glad and agreed to pay Judas, who began to seek a chance to betray Jesus to them in the absence of any crowd (Luke 22:1-6). Jesus sent Peter and John to find a place to eat the Passover meal the following night. Tomorrow, Friday, was the preparation day for the Passover when the sacrifice must be slain. 'Where do you want us to go?' they asked Jesus.
(Jesus must have seen a vision for) He replied, 'As soon as you've entered Jerusalem, you'll see a chap carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house he enters, and say to the householder, "The Master says you are to show us to the guest room where He can eat the Passover with His disciples?" He'll show you upstairs to a large room strewn with cushions, and divans suitable for a Greco- Roman style banquet. Prepare the meal there'. And they went and found everything as Jesus had said: and prepared the Passover supper" (Luke 22:7-13). Nisan 14, Thursday sunset our time to Friday sunset
Now we'll consider the last supper. "When it was evening (after sunset on our Thursday, which is early Friday to the Hebrews), Jesus sat down with the twelve disciples" (Matthew 26:20). The fact that Jesus "sat down" shows this was not the Passover meal which must always eaten "standing".
Mark 14:22-25 shows no signs of a Passover. Everything typical of a Passover is missing: the Pascal lamb, stewed fruit, bitter herbs and Passover haggadah (or discourse). And the symbolic breaking of bread and blessing of the cup were AFTER the meal, following which "they sang a hymn and departed for the Mount of Olives". Paul says nothing of the last supper having been a Passover night, merely that Jesus "took bread". It's quite evident that Jesus died before the Passover meal for He does not "eat" the Passover, He is the Passover. This is a special "farewell" meal or "last" supper.
Exodus 12:11, "Thus shall you eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S Passover". Israel were ready to march out the door and into the Wilderness at a moment's notice, not knowing where Moses might take them. That's faith. Now read along with me as I paraphrase John 13:1-20.
"Before the feast of the Passover (that is, the preparation day or Nisan 14, our Thursday sunset to Friday sunset), Jesus was aware that His time had come when He should pass from this cosmos to the Father, having loved His Own who were in the world, He loved them unto the end of His life. (As proven by His readiness to descend to the humblest death in their behalf)".
(In John 7, we read how Jesus went up to the feast of Tabernacles secretly, because the Jews wanted to kill Him. In verses 6 and 30, He said, "My time is not yet". So we see that His life was in His Own hands and His death was accomplished by Himself. Until that precise time came, He was immune from death. And, I believe, so is Christ's Bride. Now we're going to witness Jesus lay down His life voluntarily, knowing that He has been betrayed).
When supper was ready, and the devil had suggested to Judas, that this was the night to betray Jesus. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things to His inheritance, and that He had come from God and would return to God, left the table - after they had taken their places. And laying aside His robe, He wrapped a towel about His loins as the lowliest of slaves would dress, and Pouring water into a bassoon He began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the loin cloth He had about Him. When He came to Simon Peter, Peter said to Him, 'Lord, is it right for You to wash my feet?' Jesus replied, 'You don't understand now why I'm doing it; but you will know some day'. Peter protested, 'You shall never wash my feet'. 'But if I don't, you have no part with Me'.Simon Peter exclaimed, 'Then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head'.
Jesus replied, 'He that has bathed all over needs only to have his feet washed to be entirely clean (or free from impurity). But He spoke this Word only of the eleven, and not of Judas, into whose heart Satan had planted an impure thought. So He said, "Not all of you are clean". For He knew who had betrayed Him', After washing their feet, He put His robe back on, and everyone returned to their places around the table. Then He asked, 'Do you understand what I was doing? You call me Teacher and Lord: and you say well; for that's what I am.
Therefore if I then, your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet; you should wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example to emulate: do as I have done to you. Truly, a servant is not greater than his master; neither is the messenger greater than the one who sends him. You know these things. Obey them and you'll be blessed.
I'm not saying this to all of you: I know whom I have chosen: but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, "He that eats My bread will betray me". (Judas was to partake of that first Lord's Supper, the bread of which symbolised the manifested Word of the Lord's body broken for him on Calvary). I tell you now, before it happens, so when it comes to pass, you may believe on Me. (Jesus is already submitting to what He knows to be the will of the Father, in voluntarily laying down His life). Truly, I say, whoever receives My messenger receives Me; and he that receives Me receives Him that sent Me'." (The last supper was taken in the Greco-Roman style of "reclining at table", and as I said, it is quite opposite to the way in which the Jews ate the Passover.
The account of this supper is intended to be a missionary document to which the Gentiles could relate. I'd like you to form a picture of this supper in your imagination. As was the custom, there were probably no women present. Jesus was the host in control of His Own destiny and the meal. In a matter of days He will be glorified, but forthe present He condescends to humble Himself to the work of the lowest slave, in washing even the feet of His enemy.
The large room may have been in the home of John, Jesus' closest friend, as he's described as reclining at Jesus' right hand at the head of the table; Judas (the most trusted disciple and treasurer) is also at the head of the table, seated on Jesus' left, and less-favoured side. The other disciples and any guests, reclined around the table, with Peter probably somewhere to the left of Judas. The guests rested upon their left elbow, with their feet sloping away from the table, towards the back of the couch. Picture this in your mind as we follow the dialogue in John 13:21-30).
"Having spoken of His betrayer, Jesus was in great anguish, and exclaimed, 'Truly, one of you shall betray Me'. Then the disciples looked one toward another, wondering whom He could mean. 'As John reclined on his divan at Jesus' right hand, with his head towards His bosom, Peter caught his eye, and leaning back, SIGNALED to him behind the Lord, "You ask Jesus which one of us will do this terrible deed". 'I leaned back with my head on Jesus' chest and whispered, "Lord, who is it"?'
Jesus whispered, 'It's the one I'll honour by giving this morsel of bread dipped in sauce'. (It's common practice in the east to honour a guest be selecting them a choice morsel with your chopsticks, or in other cultures, your fingers.
Jesus had already indicated that, although He had seated Judas to His left, he was by His side and at the head of the table, thus an honoured guest. Jesus had appealed to the conscience of Judas, when without naming names, He foretold that one of those present would betray Him. Now Jesus appeals to Judas' heart by honouring him with the sop). When Jesus had dipped the sop, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And a short time after Judas had eaten it, Satan entered into him. (Like Pharaoh and Esau who were offered grace, but came to a time of no more repentance, the rejection of this last appeal hardened Judas' heart so that he became possessed of the Devil, whereas up to this point, he was possessed only by the evil thought).
Knowing the spiritual transaction that had taken place, and that further appeal was useless, Jesus dismisses Judas, saying, 'Hurry and do what you must'. None of the others knew what Jesus meant. Some thought that since Judas was their treasurer, that Jesus had told him to buy what was needed for the feast the following night at the close of Passover, when the high day, Nisan 15, began; or, that he should give to the poor. Judas, having received the sop, left immediately: and it was about (the third hour of the night), 9:00pm Thursday. (Keep your eyes on this Jewish time).
(It has been interesting for me to discover several things in this study ofwhich I was ignorant. Firstly, I had used the King James' translation of words and arranged the sequence of events according to the rhema or letter. I imagined Jesus washed the feet of His disciples AFTER He gave us the Lord's Supper. But He washed their feet BEFORE the meal. Secondly, and by the same cause, I thoughtJudas had DEPARTED before our Lord commanded foot washing, because the King James' translation of John 13:2 says, "And supper being ENDED..." Once again I was mistaken, for the correct translation is, "supper being SERVED", "supper was READY, or "DURING supper".
Jesus did wash the feet of His enemy. Truly He humbled Himself to a voluntary death. He prayed for those Jews and Roman soldiers who crucified Him, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do". And He commanded us, "When you stand praying, or persevere in prayer" - as Paul says, when you're clad in the full armour of God and have done all you know you can do, stand on that Word, or persevere, and "forgive those you feel have wronged you: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses".
That's a lesson itself. And one I feel the Lord's been impressing upon me). Now Jesus is going to seal the contract of the New Covenant spoken of in Jeremiah 31:31 by drinking the cup. And He'll pay the Bride price or "mohair" in His Own blood on Calvary (Israelite Marriage bb950526.htm). Let's turn to Matthew 26:26-29 and read about how Jesus instituted the memorial we know as the Lord's Supper. "As they were eating, Jesus took a piece of hard unleavened bread which required to be broken, and blessed it and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, 'Take, eat; this represents My body'. (Of course it was not His body, it was wheat flour and water which represented His body that was that corn of wheat that must fall to the ground and die, in order that it could reproduce His Life in a many-membered Body called His Church.
Now we learn two things here. Firstly, we see we're to observe the Lord's Supper in the evening, not in the morning. It's the Lord's Supper, not His breakfast, or His lunch. Secondly, the bread isn't "light bread", it's unleavened bread made of wheat sifted fine, so every piece is "the same", like Jesus Christ. It to be made by the holy hands of a Christian, mixed with water, rolled thin, and cut square, never round like bread baked for Astarte, the Babylonian queen of heaven. Then it's baked in an oven, or over a hot pan). And He took the cup of wine, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Each of you drink of it; for this is My blood sealing the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Mark My Words, I will not drink this wine again, until the day I drink it in a higher sense with you in My Father's kingdom'." (The stimulation of revelation to a born-again believer is the drinking Jesus is speaking about. The baptism with the Holy Ghost which is the new birth that seats us with Jesus, in heavenly places "in His Father's Kingdom". On the day of Pentecost, Peter turned the faith key that unlocked the Kingdom, and all men everywhere are pressing into It- Matthew 16:19; Luke 16:16; Luke 17:21).
Now communion wine is not grape juice. It is fermented wine made by holy hands, or feet. Grape juice sours whilst wine has a spirit that preserves it and causes it to improve with age. A type of the Holy Spirit.
You will notice the antitype of Calvary and the Lord's Supper was the Passover in Egypt. Only those under the blood of the lamb and prepared for the journey were allowed to partake of the Passover. Likewise, only those under the Blood of Christ or truly born-again and who are sanctified and ready for the rapture, are permitted to partake of the Lord's Supper we call Communion.
Judas took of the first Lord's Supper with iniquity in his heart and was accursed. Paul warned, "Whosoever eats this bread, and drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily, will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. That's why a man should examine himself beforehand (and if he needs to ask forgiveness, he should first make things right with those he's wronged. Or if he feels someone has wronged him, he should go to that person and inform him before taking Communion). Because if he eats and drinks unworthily, not discerning the Lord's Body (which is the individual members of the Church) he eats and drinks his own damnation. (Like Judas).
Such careless and unworthy participation is the reason so many of your number are spiritually weak and sickly; some are spiritually dead. For if we would examine our own lives we would recognise and correct our shortcomings, so we should not be judged. But when we fall short and are judged by the Word, we are corrected by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. Therefore when you gather together for the Lord's Supper, wait upon those who are making things right" (1 Corinthians 11:27-33).
During the last supper Jesus prophesied Peter's denials, and told them of the necessity of His separation, the Holy Spirit's Coming, the true evidence of the new birth, and the commandment to follow the example of His life and propagate the faith. Jesus then prayed and they departed for Gethsemane (John 14:1-John 17:26). In the garden Jesus prayed further, beseeching the Father if there be some other way to atone for Adam and his fallen race. There in His agony, He overcame thefrailties of flesh and mortal spirit. Then Judas arrived with a mob of thugs organised by the religious leaders to arrest Jesus.
The eleven disciples fled. Jesus was led to Caiaphas' palace where He was interrogated throughout the night until the early hours of the day of preparation for the Passover - Friday morning our time (John 18:28; Matthew 27:2; Mark 15:1).The Jewish leaders were desperate to be rid of Jesus, but the Law forbid them to try a prisoner at night (Talmud, Sanhedrin, cap.4). So, "They led Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate's hall of judgement: it was early (in the day of preparation, between 11:00pm and midnight Thursday our time but already the sixth day, Friday, Hebrew time). They didn't personally enter the judgement hall in case they became defiled and unable to eat the Passover (John 18:28). Here's a FIXED time: morning is any time before sunrise when it is yet dark. The Sanhedrin found Jesus guilty of blasphemy and before sunrise they delivered Him to Governor Pilate, to pronounce the death penalty. There the entire Council began at once accusing Jesus, 'This Man's been telling our nation not to pay taxes to the Roman government, claiming He is our Messiah and King'!
Pilate found no fault in Jesus, and learning He was of Galilee and therefore under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod who was in Jerusalem at that time. When Jesus declined to amuse Herod with a miraculous demonstration, he had his troops dress Jesus in royal purple and then sent Him back to Pilate for a joke.
Knowing Jesus' innocence, "Pilate sought to release Him: but the Jews cried, 'If you let this man go, you're not Caesar's friend: whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar'. When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgement seat. It was the preparation day of the Passover, and already about the sixth hour (after midnight, or about 6:00 in the morning of Nisan 14, according to Roman reckoning - John was writing according Roman reckoning (John 1:39) we use today - and the trial was still in progress. Another FIXED time).
With irony Pilate said to the Jews, 'Behold your King'!
But they cried out, 'Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!'
Pilate said sarcastically, 'Shall I crucify your King?' The chief priests answered, 'We have no king but Caesar'. Then Pilate gave Jesus to them to be crucified" (Matthew 26:30- Matt 27:2; Luke 22:54-Luke 23:25; John 19:12-16).
The purple robe was taken, and Jesus wore only His own clothes to Calvary, but before he was crucified, these were stripped from Him and sold in a sweep while He looked down naked from the cross about three hours after Pilate delivered Him to be crucified (John 19:15-18).
Mark 15:25 says, "It was about the third hour (of the day), 9:00am when they crucified Him". The time of the Jew's morning sacrifice. The synoptic gospels declare that "from about the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour" or from noon until 3:00pm in our time when Jesus died. This could not have been an eclipse because it was the middle of the month when the moon is full. The darkness signified God had rejected the regular evening sacrifice. Light returned once the true and accepted sacrifice was fulfilled (Matthew 27:45-50; Mark 15:33-37; Luke 23:44-46).
Time was drawing-on. (Less than three hours remained to 6:00pm and the High Day or holy convocation of Nisan 15, and the first day of Unleavened Bread. As their days were not actually regulated by the clock but, like the months and religious festivals, by observation of the sun and harvest, daytime may have been several hours longer at this time of year). John 19:31, "The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation of the Passover, so that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, for that Sabbath day was a high day, asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, (causing almost instant suffocation), so that they might be taken away". The Jew's first concern after the crucifixion was obeying the letter of the Law. Jesus had to be buried in haste for Jewish Law commands: "If a man committed a sin worthy of death, and is hanged on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall bury him that day" (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).
The Jewish day begins at sunset, the Passover meal will be served on the evening of Nisan 15, less than three hours away. According to John 19:14 and John 19:16, and John is emphatic about this: "It was the day of preparation of the Passover ... then Pilate handed Jesus over to the Jews to be crucified".
On the day of preparation of Passover, the evening sacrifice was killed at the sixth hour and offered at the seventh (1:00pm). The killing of the Passover lambs began immediately after and finished at the ninth hour (3:00pm) when our Lord "Gave up the Ghost". And all four gospels state emphatically that Jesus was buried before sunset on Nisan 14. The new day beginning at 6:00pm was the HIGH DAY of Nisan 15, the FIRST day of the feast (John 19:31) when the Passover meal was eaten. Nisan 15 is a FIXED date and was always a Sabbath no matter on which day of the week it fell. That year it fell on a Saturday, (our Friday sunset to Saturday sunset).
Let's read Leviticus 23:4-8, "These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD'S Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread unto the LORD: seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation: you shall do no customary work therein. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day is a holy convocation: you shall do no customary work therein".
The first day of each of the three compulsory pilgrim feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles was a "holy convocation". It was called by the Hebrews "Good day", which is still the customary greeting throughout Jewry to the present time. The special Sabbaths were fixed DATES, not fixed DAYS: they could fall on any day of the week. To illustrate, if the Sabbath of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread were a Saturday, the Sabbath of the seventh day could not be aSaturday.
The first and seventh days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread were not the only special Sabbaths or holy convocations. The Feast of Trumpets on Tishri 1, Day of Atonement on Tishri 10, the first and eighth days of the Feast of Tabernacles that same month were also special Sabbaths. If the first day of this Feast was a Saturday, the eighth must also be a Saturday. But were the first day to fall on any other day of the week, neither special Sabbath would be a Saturday (Leviticus 23:23-32; Lev 23:33-36).
Before closing, I'll quote Leviticus 23:10-11 so we can prove what day Jesus was crucified. "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I give you, and shall reap the harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it'."
This Sabbath is the high day or holy convocation of Nisan 15, the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread - commanded by verse 7. As the sheaf was always waved on Nisan 16 which always follows the Sabbath of Nisan 15, it should be clear that it is not the regular weekly Sabbath that is here spoken of. However we know that in the year of Christ's crucifixion, the Sabbath of Nisan 15 fell upon a Saturday, because Christ was the sheaf, and He was waved after His resurrection on the first day of the week, which was the day after the regular Saturday Sabbath.
We'll pause our narrative after 3:00pm, Friday Nisan 14.
We've discovered the necessity of thinking according to the Hebrew reckoning of time. We've received some fresh understanding on the sequence of events regarding the last days of our Lord on earth, and by calculating forward, recognised that His crucifixion had to be on a Friday.
We now know that having been crucified on the day of Preparation of the Passover, Jesus could not have eaten the Passover lamb with His disciples (John 18:28; John 19:14). And we've received valuable new insight on the institution of the ordinances Lord's Supper and foot washing.
This is what Brother Branham said, and it is what he meant. If we can't take his teachings to God's Word from Genesis to Revelation, then we, not "he", have the wrong revelation. And I had the wrong revelation but God caused a Brother to tap me on the shoulder with a little e-mail. The Holy Spirit did the rest. Critics may say, "What has this got to do with the Rapture"?
These are a few of the "missing clues" in the jig-saw puzzle. If we can get the "little foxes out of the vine", we'll gain a more perfect understanding of the "big picture", and that's Christ the fullness of the Word. God bless you all.
(I was asked this question recently: "Why are Jesus' disciples coming to Him on the First Day of Unleavened Bread according to Matthew 26:17, asking where they should prepare the meal? How can they be doing this on the First Day of Unleavened Bread if we are to believe that Jesus was killed on Passover and wasin the grave on the First Day of Unleavened Bread?"
I responded, "If we look at John 13:1, "Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." This was, the preparation day, or Nisan 14, (our Thursday sunset to Friday sunset). Nisan 15 was a Saturday this particular year, making it a Sabbath or holy convocation, and Nisan 15, the first day of Unleavened Bread was always a Sabbath or holy convocation -- regardless which day of the week it was. Therefore it was a "double Sabbath" or "high day."
Now read John 18:28, "Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgement: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgement hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the Passover." (This was probably very late Thursday night our time or Nisan 14 Hebrew time -- still 18-19 hours before the Passover meal was to be eaten on Friday evening our time which was Saturday evening Nisan 15 in Hebrew time).
Next we come to John 19:14, "And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour: and Pilate said unto the Jews, Behold your King!" This is about midnight (the sixth hour) Thursday night or Nisan 14 -- about 18 hours before the Passover meal, and the Pascal lambs were not killed until between 1:00-3:00pm that day -- 13 to 16 hours hence. The "day of preparation" was Nisan 14 when the Hebrew people cleaned their homes from top to bottom to ensure there was no leaven in the house.
This brings us back to Matthew 26:17, "Now the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto Him, Where wilt You that we prepare for You to eat the Passover?" (This is saying, "Now the first day of Unleavened Bread was APPROACHING which was a Sabbath and on which work like "preparing for the Passover" was forbidden under the Law").
Mark 14:12, "And the first day of (having no) Unleavened Bread (in the house WAS AT HAND AND), when they killed the Passover, His disciples said unto Him, 'Where wilt Thou that we go and prepare that You may eat the Passover?"
And Luke 22:7-9, "Then came the day of (having no) Unleavened Bread (in the house), when the Passover must be killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the Passover, that we may eat. And they said unto Him, Where wilt You that we prepare?"
This should be understood as THEN THE DAY OF REMOVING ALL LEAVEN AND UNLEAVENED
BREAD FROM THE HOME WAS AT HAND , or day or PREPARATION for the Day of Unleavened Bread and the Passover Meal. It cannot be the first day of Unleavened Bread because the Passover was killed BEFORE the day of Unleavened Bread. Had this been the first day of Unleavened Bread they could prepare nothing, for it,was a holy convocation and NO work could be performed on that day).
Chart illustrating the Six Days Before Passover in Hebrew Time and
> 1800 | (sunset) Nisan 8, sixth day before Passover (John 12:1)
--0000 | (midnight) Our Friday sunset to Saturday sunset
--0600 | The Sabbath day
--1200 |
--1500 |
> 1800 | (sunset) Nisan 9, fifth day before Passover
--0000 | (midnight) our Saturday sunset to Sunday sunset
--0600 | ("Palm Sunday")
--1200 | John 12:2-19; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 9:29-44;
--1500 | 19:36-44
> 1800 | (sunset) Nisan 10, fourth day before Passover
--0000 | (midnight) our Sunday sunset to Monday sunset
--0600 | Matthew 21:18-22; Mark 11:12-19;
--1200 | Luke 19:45-47; John 12:20-50
--1500 |
> 1800 | (sunset) Nisan 11, third day before Passover
--0000 | (midnight) Our Monday sunset to Tuesday sunset
--0600 | Matthew 21:23-Matt 23:39; Mark 11:20-Mark 12:44;
--1200 | Luke 20:1-Luke 21:38
--1500 |
> 1800 | (sunset) Nisan 12, second day before Passover
--0000 | (midnight) our Tuesday sunset to Wednesday sunset
--0600 | Matthew 24:1-Matt 26:13; Mark 13:1-Mark 14:9;
--1200 |
--1500 |
> 1800 | (sunset) Nisan 13, day before Passover
--0000 | (midnight) our Wednesday to Thursday sunset
--0600 | Matthew 26:14-19; Mark 14:10-16;
--1200 | Luke 22:1-13
--1500 |
> 1800 | (sunset) Nisan 14, Passover
--0000 | (midnight) our Thursday sunset to Friday sunset
--0600 | preparation day and the day of the Crucifixion
--1200 | Matthew 26:21-Matt 27:66; Mark 14:18- Mark 15:47; Luke 22:14-Luke 23:56;
--1500 | John 13:1-John 19:42 *First day in the grave
> 1800 | (sunset) Nisan 15, the first day of Unleavened Bread,
--0000 | (midnight) our Friday sunset to Saturday sunset
--0600 | "high day" of the Feast when the Passover . . .
Continued in "Easter - When did Jesus Resurrect?"
e-mail to: ags@biblebelievers.org.au